{"id":9100,"date":"2026-01-18T20:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T20:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=9100"},"modified":"2026-01-18T20:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T20:55:16","slug":"chile-forest-fire-death-toll-rises-to-16-as-state-of-emergency-declared-climate-crisis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=9100","title":{"rendered":"Chile forest fire death toll rises to 16 as state of emergency declared | Climate Crisis News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Chilean President Gabriel Boric \u200dhas announced a \u200dstate of emergency in two southern regions.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"byline byline--single-avatar\">\n<div class=\"avatars-container\">\n<div class=\"responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/signal-2023-06-18-200258_002-1765284281.webp?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80 96w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 96px) 96px, 96px\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 18 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">18 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Two dozen active forest fires are tearing across southern Chile, forcing more than 50,000 people to flee their homes and killing at least 16 people, authorities have said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Security Minister Luis Cordero told reporters at a press conference on Sunday that 15 deaths had been confirmed in the Biobio region, bringing the total to 16 after \u200cthe government previously reported one death in Nuble.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Biobio and Nuble \u2013 central-southern regions located about 500km (300 mi) south of the capital, Santiago \u2013 have faced the blazes\u2019 worst effects.<\/p>\n<p>President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency in both regions earlier on Sunday, writing on X that \u201call resources are available\u201d to contain the fires. The declaration allowed Chile\u2019s armed forces to start pitching in.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of the evacuations have taken place in the cities of Penco and Lirquen, located in Biobio, authorities said. Together, the cities are home to around 60,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>Interior Minister Alvaro Elizalde said unfavourable weather conditions in the coming days \u2013 particularly extreme temperatures \u2013 were expected to make firefighting efforts more difficult.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe face a complicated situation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The fires have torched around 85sq km (33sq mi) across Biobio and Nuble, prompting the mass evacuations. At least 250 homes have been destroyed so far.<\/p>\n<p>South-central Chile has been battered by forest fires in recent years, with simultaneous blazes in February 2024 leading to the deaths of more than 130 people.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Boric called it the \u201cgreatest tragedy\u201d the Latin American country had faced since a 2010 earthquake that killed at least 500 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chilean President Gabriel Boric \u200dhas announced a \u200dstate of emergency in two southern regions. Published On 18 Jan 202618 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Two dozen active forest fires are tearing across southern Chile, forcing more than 50,000 people to flee their homes and killing at least 16 people, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}